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"Fastlane" is an entrepreneur discussion forum based on The Unscripted Entrepreneurial Framework (TUNEF) outlined in the two best-selling books by MJ DeMarco (The Millionaire Fastlane and UNSCRIPTED™). From multimillionaires to digital nomads, the forum features real entrepreneurs creating real businesses.

Hi guys I'm working day and night on my tech startup project and with my team we've finished the prototype.
I'd like to present to investors and get money for funding but I know it's not easy.

I'm currently in USA and I'm travelling to San Francisco, also I've been to Los Angeles and I'm meeting lots of entrepreneurs while adding them all to my contact list.
I'm also trying to get some meetings with Angel investors here, I just write them a short message on LinkedIn but still got no response.

How can I follow up in the right way without claiming money but just showing to an entrepreneur or investors my prototype so they can understand they can make money with my service and actually have a great return on investment?

Hola! I do physical products too and ran into the same problem. "Design is [close to] done... now how do I do a production run without capital?!"

Sounds like a blowoff, but ZCP is on the right track. Sell a handful of these suckers! If you can ship a minimum-viable version of this product at a small discount, go for it. People actually _like_ getting the experimental prototype versions.

And have you thought about wholesale? My first big sale was from a sh*tty pen-to-paper drawing I made of the widget I was funding. I got a couple stores on board and told them "Great, delivery will be in 90 days". They don't mind waiting if you are solving a good problem for them, and if you are completely open and honest about needing capital to fund the first run. Stores f*cking LOVE being the first person to be able to stock something new.

Worst case scenario, you refund all their money. NBD.

Grow using your customers' money, not your own. Do pre-sales, sell MVP versions, and remember to get feedback from customers every step of the way.

Personally, I wouldn't take money from an investor if I can help it. I don't want another boss.

You may have a weird situation that requires an injection of $1million to get up and running, but I honestly doubt it. Plus, if you fund your first production run with pre-sales and are already turning profit, it'll be 100x easier to get investors onboard anyway.

I would love to have a problem manufacturing something that sells well and makes a good profit. You first spend a few grand of your own money to make prototypes and the first batch for sale. Then, if the product sells, you re-invest the profits and/or borrow from credit cards, banks, customers, distributors, or investors to make more. Then repeat.

Hola! I do physical products too and ran into the same problem. "Design is [close to] done... now how do I do a production run without capital?!"

Sounds like a blowoff, but ZCP is on the right track. Sell a handful of these suckers! If you can ship a minimum-viable version of this product at a small discount, go for it. People actually _like_ getting the experimental prototype versions.

And have you thought about wholesale? My first big sale was from a sh*tty pen-to-paper drawing I made of the widget I was funding. I got a couple stores on board and told them "Great, delivery will be in 90 days". They don't mind waiting if you are solving a good problem for them, and if you are completely open and honest about needing capital to fund the first run. Stores f*cking LOVE being the first person to be able to stock something new.

Worst case scenario, you refund all their money. NBD.

Grow using your customers' money, not your own. Do pre-sales, sell MVP versions, and remember to get feedback from customers every step of the way.

Personally, I wouldn't take money from an investor if I can help it. I don't want another boss.

You may have a weird situation that requires an injection of $1million to get up and running, but I honestly doubt it. Plus, if you fund your first production run with pre-sales and are already turning profit, it'll be 100x easier to get investors onboard anyway.

Click to expand...

I'm selling a service, what about crowfunding on kick starter? is it really good in the long run? or is it better to get private investments?

I would love to have a problem manufacturing something that sells well and makes a good profit. You first spend a few grand of your own money to make prototypes and the first batch for sale. Then, if the product sells, you re-invest the profits and/or borrow from credit cards, banks, customers, distributors, or investors to make more. Then repeat.

Click to expand...

That's a good idea. What about instead of selling a service or a product before it has been created?

That's a good idea. What about instead of selling a service or a product before it has been created?

Click to expand...

Totally possible, if you have a credibility with your customers, and if they know you. Elon Musk just sold a few hundred of Tesla roadsters for $250K each after hand-building just a handful of prototypes. Same with $5M worth of his stupid flamethrowers, which he hasn't produced or shipped.

There is also the Kickstarter website for those who do not know their customers.

Totally possible, if you have a credibility with your customers, and if they know you. Elon Musk just sold a few hundred of Tesla roadsters for $250K each after hand-building just a handful of prototypes. Same with $5M worth of his stupid flamethrowers, which he hasn't produced or shipped.

There is also the Kickstarter website for those who do not know their customers.

Click to expand...

So do you think Kickstarter would be a good solution?

I've talked to venture capitalists and they have strict rules, I see crowfunding could be a way for starting to get early adopters and money or I'm wrong?

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The Fastlane Forum is an entrepreneur discussion forum based on the UNSCRIPTED® Entrepreneurial Framework outlined in the best-selling books The Millionaire Fastlane (2011) and UNSCRIPTED (2017).Learn More